Method of and apparatus for cleaning metallic sheets



May 16, 1939.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING METALLIC SHEETS R. M. FENTON Filed Feb. 4, 1936 as INVENTOR.

37 ZQy 771 @7672 f0 yfCg. 5 B )Z WITZRNSZ 5 Sheets-Sheet 1' R. M. FENTON May 16, 1939.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING METALLIC SHEETS Filed Feb. 4, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Kay 771 58% Z071 BY c? ATTORNE May 16, 1939. R. M. FENTON 2,158,694

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING METALLIC SHEETS Filed Feb. 4, 1956 3 SheetsSheet 5 INVENTOR.

Pay 7% 6 671 on- BY 0966/ Q r ATTOR Patented May 16, 1939 UNITED STATE-S PATENT OFFICE METHOD or AND APPARATUS roa CLEAN- nzc. METALLIC snnn'rs 4 Claims.

This invention relates as indicated to a method of and apparatus for cleaning metallic sheets and I more particularly for the purpose of subjecting metallic sheets to a so-called scrubbing action in the presence of a suitable cleaning fluid such as hot water.

It is one of the principal objects of my invention to provide an improved brushing or scrubbing means as well as a novel mode of operation of brushing devices generally whereby the foreign material adhering to metallic sheets may be more efflciently removed.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an improved scrubbing means characterized by the fact that the cleaning station at which the sheet to be cleaned is subjected to a scrubbing action is located within a bath of cleaning fluid instead of supplying the cleaning fluid to the article to be cleaned in the form of sprays.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel means for supporting and actuating the brushes which engage the sheet so that they may more effectively and more efllciently carry on the scrubbing operation with aminimum of wear to the brushes.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a method of cleaning and scrubbing metallic sheets characterized by a saving of a considerable amount of energy, both with respect to me-' chanical manipulation of the article and apparatus, as well as the cleaning bath employed.

Further objects of my invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To'the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims; the annexed drawings and the following description setting forth in detail certain means and one mode illustrating, however, but one of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view partially in section of one form of apparatus constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention; Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the the brushes forming a part of the apparatus illustrated in the previous figures.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings and more especially to Figs. 1 to 3, the apparatus illustrated in such figures as representative of one embodiment of my invention consists of a suitable supporting frame generally indicated at I, which carries a fluid collecting tank 2 and above which there is mounted the scrubbing apparatus generally indicated at 3.

As most clearly illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the side members of the frame i have journalled therein paired shafts 4 and 5. About each pair of such shafts there are trained endless chains or webs 6 to which there are secured a plurality of outwardly extending brushes'l. The shafts 4 and 5 are so spaced with respect to each other that as the chains or webs 6 are rotated, the brushes 1' carried thereby are successively brought into engagement with the sheet or web 8 to be cleaned- I Likewise journalled in the side members of the frame I are paired pinch rollers 9 and I0 adapted to engage the sheet and feed the same throughv the cleaning station between the brushes 1 of the webs 6. A pair of rubber covered ringer rolls II are likewise journalled between the side members of the frame I for the purpose of removing the excess cleaning fluid from the web or sheet 8 after the completion of the cleaning operation and before discharge of such web from the machine.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 1 the spray pipes generally indicated at 12 are positioned on opposite sides of the sheet 8 on opposite sides of the cleaning station to provide a supply of cleaning fluid such as hot water to the sheet during the brushing operation .and to wash the sheet free of adhering particles after the scrubbing operation has been completed. A drain conduit generally indicated at I 3 carries the waste cleaning fluid from the tank I to a suitable point of disposal. I,

The pinch rolls 9 and ill and the wringer rolls II are preferably intergeared or interconnected by means of sprockets and sprocket chains and driven synchronously by means of a single motor such as H which may be connected to the train of gears or sprockets and chains of the rollyers 9, l0 and ll by means of a suitable gear reduction device generally indicated at 15.

One of each of the paired shafts 4 and 5 have respectively secured thereto drive shafts l6 and i1 respectively which are so connected to a gear box I8 that they are driven in opposite directions at substantially the same speed by unidirectional rotation of the drive shaft l9. The drive shaft |9 may be driven continuously in a single direction by any suitable motor such as in which event, the chains 6 will carry the brushes respectively connected therewith in engagement with the sheet 8 in the same direction relative to the movement of such sheet through the machine. For certain types of operation it may be desirable to have the brushes move in the same direction as the sheet but at a speed different than such sheet and for other types of operation it may be desirable to have the brushes move in a direction counter to the movement of the sheet.

In order to increase the scrubbing effectiveness of the brushes 1, I have provided meanswhereby theymay be reciprocably advanced with respect to the cleaning station, i. e., either in the same direction as the direction of movement of the sheet or counter thereto. In the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 2, such reciprocable movement of the brushes is effected by an alternate energization of the motor 28 so that it will alternately rotate in opposite directions for slightly different intervals of time. In order to accomplish this a constant speed control motor 2| is provided which drives a controller drum 22 with which the leads 23, 24 andare in contact. Said leads 23, 24 and 25 connect with the motor 20 through the conventional magnetic contact control indicated at 22', which reverses the motor 20 periodically. The lead 23 is in contact with the drum 22 at all times; the lead 25 is in electrical communication with the lead 23 during part of the rotation of the drum and the lead 24 is.in electrical communication with the lead 23 during the remainder of the revolution. By making different the periods during'which the leads 24 and 2'5 are respectively in electrical communication with the lead 23, the reversals of the motor 20 by the magnetic contact control 22' will vary in time interval and the motor 20 may be driven first in one direction and then the other for different lengths of time causing the brushes 1 to be reciprocably advanced past the cleaning station.

Another manner in which the brushes 1 may be reciprocated and advanced past the cleaning station is shown in Fig. 5 in which the driving motor equivalent to motor 20 of Fig. 2 is shown at 28a. The drive shaft |9a in Fig. 5 is similar to the drive shaft l9 of Fig. 2. The drive shaft |9a is driven in opposite directions for different intervals of time by the employment of a control device which may be briefly explained as follows:

The stub shaft 26 has a gear 21 keyed thereto which meshes with a spur gear 28 which is keyed to the same shaft as the bevel gear 29. Bevel pinions.3|l and 3| are loosely mounted on the shaft |9a and a sliding clutch member 32 is keyed to the shaft |9a so that upon unidirectional rotation of the shaft 26, engagement by the clutch member 32 with the bevel gear 38 will cause the shaft |9a to be rotated in one direction and when the clutch member 32 is moved into engagement with the bevel gear 3|, the shaft |9a will be rotated in the opposite direction. The clutch member 32 is actuated by means of a pivotally supported arm 33 which at its outer end is connected to the armature 34 of solenoids 35 and 35. The solenoids 35 and 36 are connected with the power lines 31 and 38 in the manner shown in Fig. 5 and through the control drum generally indicated at 39 which is secured to the shaft 26. The leads 48, 4| and 42 are connected to brushes which engage different segments on the control drum 39 so that during a portion of each revolution of the drum 5 tion for a longer period of time than its period of rotation in the opposite direction and accordingly, the same results attained as by the use of the expedient illustrated in Fig. 2. 15

Still another manner in which the drive shaft for the brushes may be rotated in opposite directions for different intervals of time as illustrated in Fig. 6, wherein the motor 201) corresponds to the motor 20 of Fig. 2 and the drive shaft |9b corresponds to the drive shaft of IQ of Fig. 2. In Fig. 6 the shaft 43 of the motor through gears 44 and 45 drives the shaft 46 in a predetermined direction and preferably at constant speed. The shaft I!!!) has pinions 41 and 48 loosely mounted thereon and a clutch device 49 generally similar to that shown at 32 in Fig. 5 is employed for alternately connecting the pinions 41 and 48, to the shaft |9b. The pinion 41 is constantly driven by means of the bevel gear 50 and the pinion 48 is constantly driven by means of the bevel pinion 5|, the bevel pinions 50 and 5| being keyed to the shaft 46. The differences in diameter of the pinions 41 and 48 will result in their driving the shaft |9b at different speeds during the time they are respectively connected thereto by means of the clutch 49.

The clutch 49 is actuated by means of the arm 52 which is in turn reciprocated by the pivotally supported arm 53, the forked end 54 of which is engaged by the cam member 55 carried by the axle of the gear 56, which being interconnected with the shaft 46, rotates at constant speed.

Constant speed unidirectional rotation of the shaft 43 will, therefore, result in the clutch 49 being alternately moved into engagement with the pinions 41 and 48 for light periods of time. The shaft |9b is, however, rotated for a greater number of revolutions when the clutch 49 is in engagement with the pinion 41 as shown than when such clutch member ,is in engagement with the pinion 48. Thus the brushes will again be reciprocated past the cleaning station and at the same time progressively moved with respect thereto. Y

The apparatus illustrated in Fig. ,4, insofar as the construction of the brushing apparatus 'is concerned, is identicalwith that illustrated in Fig. 1 so that like reference characters will be employed to designate like parts. The principal difference between the construction illustrated in Fig. 4 and that shown in Fig. 1 resides in the fact that the brushing devices are so mounted that the cleaning station is below the normal liquid level indicated at 51 in the tank 58, i. e., instead of spraying the cleaning fluid onto the sheet in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1, the brushes and the sheet at the cleaning station are submerged in a bath of the cleaning fluid.

This is accomplished by providing suitable guides such as 59, 68, 6| and 62 on opposite sides of the cleaning station with appropriate pinch rolls associated therewith for the purpose of lead- I 2,158,694 ing the sheet or web 63 into the bath and through Y circulating and filtering system generallyindicated at 65 which consists of a pump 66 and a fllter 61, such apparatus being connected to the tank by means of a conduit 68, which carries the cleaning fluid to the pump 66; the conduit 69 which carries the fluid from the pump to the filter and a conduit 10 which carries the filter fluid back to the tank.

Extending into the tank 58 below the normal liquid level therein is a steam pipe II which admits varying amounts of steam to the bath under control of a valve 12 in order to maintain the temperature of such bath substantially constant. In order to augment the heating effect of the steam pipe II and in order to supply the principal amount of heat necessary to be continuously supplied to the bath, particularly when the sheets to be cleaned are cold, I provide enlarged closed tubes 13 which extend into the bath from the sides of the tank and into which may be mounted any suitable type of heating device.

In order to insure that thesheet is freed of all foreign matter before passing out through the wringer rolls 64 I may provide spray pipes 640. immediately adjacent the wringer rolls which will project clear water or the like against one or both sides of thesheet to flush the same clean.

From the foregoing description, it will be noted that I have provided a cleaning and scrubbing device for metallic sheets and the'like characterized by the fact that a novel arrangement of brushes, as wellas their operation, is provided vwhich more effectively and more economically cleans the sheets fed through the apparatus than the prior art deviceswhich have usually consisted of a single rotary brush. Furthermore, the positioning of the cleaning station within a bath of cleaning fluid in contradistinction to the application of the cleaning fluid to the sheet by spray means enables me to carry on the cleaning operation in a more 'eiflcient manner and to materially conserve the heat required to elevate the 1 treating fluid to a temperature where the cleaning operation may be carried on most efficiently. The employment of-the circulating pump and its associated fllter likewise enables meto recirculate the heated bath and thus make it unnecessary to continuously supply a large volume of sired temperature.

cleaning fluid which must be elevated to the de- Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one "explained, change being made as regards the means and the steps herein disclosed, provided those stated by any of (the following claims or their equivalent be employed.

I, therefore, particularly point out and dis-1 .tinctly claim as my invention:

1. In apparatus for scrubbing metallic sheets I and the like, thegc ombination of means for con-- 5 veying a sheet to be cleaned past a cleaning station, an endless web trained about spaced axes with one run thereof adjacent said cleaning station, and a plurality of brushes connected to said web and carried thereby into engagement with the shreet to be cleaned, and means for reciprocably advancing said web and brushes past said cleaning station.

2. In apparatus for scrubbing metallic sheets and the like, the combination of a wash tank, means for conveying a sheet to be cleaned past a cleaning station below the normal liquid level in said tank, endless webs trained about paired spaced axes arranged on opposite sides of such sheet with one run of each such webs adjacent the cleaning station, and a plurality of brushes carried by each of said webs and adapted to be moved thereby into and out of engagement with the opposite faces of the sheet, and means for sheet to be cleaned and simultaneously holding such sheet against any movement other than such .ieeding movement, endless chains trained about spaced sprockets with one run of each said chains adjacent said cleaning station on opposite sides thereof, brushes secured to said chains v whereby a plurality of such brushes are brought into engagement with each side of the sheet, .and means for driving said chains and feeding means, said means for driving the chains being operative to impart areciprocating advance movement thereto.

4. The method of cleaning metallic sheets which comprises advancing the same past a cleaning station positioned in a bath of cleaning fluid, and at the same time reciprocably advancing a plurality of brushes past such station and.- in contact with the sheets to. be cleaned.

- RAY M. FENTON. 

